16/06/2017 Asia Business Report


16/06/2017

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 16/06/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

of Northern Ireland at Downing Street, to try to reassure

:00:00.:00:00.

them that a proposed deal between the Conservatives

:00:00.:00:00.

and the Democratic Unionists, wouldn't affect the prospects

:00:00.:00:00.

of restoring power-sharing at Stormont.

:00:07.:00:14.

US authorities seize assets worth over half $1 billion in a money

:00:15.:00:23.

laundering scandal surrounding Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund.

:00:24.:00:34.

And wind, solar, or hydro. A look at Kazakhstan and their plans for

:00:35.:00:38.

renewable energy. Good morning, Asia. Hello, world. Welcome to

:00:39.:00:41.

today's edition of Asia Business Report. I'm Sharanjit Leyl. It's a

:00:42.:00:44.

Friday. From a Picasso painting to a Jim Carrey movie. US authorities are

:00:45.:00:51.

seizing assets worth half $1 billion as part of a global money-laundering

:00:52.:00:57.

case. The items were allegedly purchased using money diverted from

:00:58.:01:04.

Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund 1MDB. We have all details. US

:01:05.:01:09.

authorities are moving in on a number of items. They include a

:01:10.:01:16.

Picasso building and an apartment in Manhattan. Also the rights to

:01:17.:01:26.

several Hollywood films, like Jim Carrey's Dumb and Dumber Two movie

:01:27.:01:29.

and another starring Will Ferrell. This is part of a global

:01:30.:01:33.

money-laundering case which has spread from Malaysia to hear in the,

:01:34.:01:43.

the US. They stole more than half $1 billion from the sovereign wealth

:01:44.:01:50.

fund of Malaysia us. They say funds were diverted and passed through the

:01:51.:01:55.

United States. That is where they come in the picture. An acting US

:01:56.:02:00.

attorney in California says these cases used billions of dollars that

:02:01.:02:06.

should have helped people in Malaysia but fuelled astonishing

:02:07.:02:10.

greed for a small number of people instead to bite we have just heard

:02:11.:02:15.

the Malaysian authorities respond to this case in the US. How far has the

:02:16.:02:20.

Department of Justice gotten in this case so far? This is not the first

:02:21.:02:24.

time they have tried to seize assets. There was an early attempt a

:02:25.:02:29.

few days ago. Before that, you have to go back a year. This involves

:02:30.:02:36.

seizing other assets. Leonardo DiCaprio, who apparently was

:02:37.:02:39.

involved tangentially, receiving gifts from someone connected to

:02:40.:02:45.

this, apparently has said he is co-operating. The Department of

:02:46.:02:49.

Justice, as I said, got involved in part because the US filed complaints

:02:50.:02:56.

to recover more than $1.7 billion. There are also investigation is not

:02:57.:03:00.

just in the US but Singapore and Switzerland. Like I said, this is a

:03:01.:03:06.

wide and vast sprawling investigation involving money that

:03:07.:03:10.

apparently was taken from between 2009 and 2015. And we have also

:03:11.:03:16.

heard from the Press Secretary of the Prime Minister in Malaysia, the

:03:17.:03:21.

country where this sovereign wealth fund is from, basically saying this

:03:22.:03:26.

is politically motivated, saying the motivation goes beyond the objective

:03:27.:03:32.

of seizing assets. Michelle Fleury speaking to me earlier from New

:03:33.:03:36.

York. Other business news. After years of discussion, global market

:03:37.:03:43.

index provider, MSCI, will announce whether they will include Chinese A

:03:44.:03:50.

shares in its indexes. Last year it surprised the market by not

:03:51.:03:55.

including them. Trading in shares of Japanese aid bag maker, Takata, have

:03:56.:04:00.

been suspended after reports the company is preparing to file for

:04:01.:04:06.

bankruptcy. -- airbag. They face billions of dollars in liabilities

:04:07.:04:12.

from defective airbag inflators. Finances from euro countries have

:04:13.:04:15.

agreed to delay payment of 8.5 billion euros to Greece. Under the

:04:16.:04:21.

bailout programme, they have repayments on loans due next month

:04:22.:04:24.

which it could not otherwise have made. Fatah, isolated by Gulf

:04:25.:04:40.

neighbours, have agreed to buy $12 billion of F15 fighter jets. --

:04:41.:04:46.

Qatar. Kazakhstan, central Asia's largest economy. It is hosting a

:04:47.:04:54.

three-month expo to outline its economy plan. Traditionally driven

:04:55.:04:59.

by oil and gas, there economy slumped when oil prices fell. It

:05:00.:05:12.

wants to meet those needs with wind, solar, hydro, or nuclear by 2050.

:05:13.:05:17.

How realistic is that? This is what Kazakhstan says it wants power

:05:18.:05:22.

generation to look like. Massive wind turbines rotating above the

:05:23.:05:27.

central Asian steppes, powering homes, offices, and schools. Listen

:05:28.:05:35.

to this. That is the sound of wind going at 60 kilometres per hour. And

:05:36.:05:39.

that is not even at full speed. To be honest, I don't know if I can

:05:40.:05:43.

keep standing. I am honestly worried of being blown away. This is one of

:05:44.:05:50.

the key reasons why Kazakhstan is so well-suited for renewable energy.

:05:51.:05:54.

That is why Kazakhstan is putting on this grand show. The expo designed

:05:55.:06:00.

to attract foreign investors to the renewables market of the country.

:06:01.:06:07.

They are finding it challenging with energy storage solutions. The local

:06:08.:06:15.

currency fell 55% in 2015. That gives a negative effect on special

:06:16.:06:24.

renewable projects. All of the equipment, even small bolts, are

:06:25.:06:27.

imported. When the investors come, there is too much uncertainty. The

:06:28.:06:32.

government did not set a proper rules stop white but the government

:06:33.:06:36.

says it is trying to help investors. TRANSLATION: We understand foreign

:06:37.:06:40.

companies face certain risks because they will earn profits in local

:06:41.:06:46.

currency, which has been volatile. We are trying to take the risks away

:06:47.:06:53.

from them by tying tariffs to the currency. So, if the local currency

:06:54.:06:57.

drops, then tariffs will rise. This is where you live? Thank you. It is

:06:58.:07:06.

not just investors. Many Kazakhs also feel the government strategy is

:07:07.:07:10.

not well thought out. But very few dare to speak out. This is when they

:07:11.:07:15.

sentence due to three years of no public speaking, no organised

:07:16.:07:21.

protesting? This lawyer and activist tells me it is all for show.

:07:22.:07:26.

TRANSLATION: They just built a few wind power plants around the area.

:07:27.:07:32.

Why not everywhere, why not cheaper, so people can actually use it? None

:07:33.:07:37.

of this is changing every day like. 80% of Kazakhstan still uses call

:07:38.:07:45.

because it is cheap. -- coal. Until there is a clear roadmap, the lofty

:07:46.:07:49.

vision of Kazakhstan may remain out of reach. And we will have a special

:07:50.:07:57.

edition of Talking Business this weekend from the expo in the area.

:07:58.:08:04.

The largest hotel chain with 6000 Robert Hughes and 13 brands globally

:08:05.:08:13.

is becoming famous wildlife -- properties. It is our fastest

:08:14.:08:21.

growing region in the world. In Asia-Pacific, in more than half of

:08:22.:08:27.

the pipeline, it is in Asia-Pacific. This is a luxury part of the world.

:08:28.:08:36.

Who do you target? Every segment. We have 20 brands in the Asia-Pacific.

:08:37.:08:45.

It goes all the way down to more economic travellers who decide to

:08:46.:08:48.

stay in more economic brands. Chinese travellers are strategically

:08:49.:08:53.

twofold. Chinese travellers inside of China growing at a very fast

:08:54.:08:57.

rate, double digits. Outbound travel, it is huge. We would never

:08:58.:09:03.

have seen that in many resort destinations. Today, the number one

:09:04.:09:09.

source market is China. What other markets are you looking at in Asia?

:09:10.:09:13.

There is a slowdown in the North American market where you still have

:09:14.:09:17.

the biggest presence. Donald Trump cannot have helped and his policies.

:09:18.:09:22.

It made us worried, but we had a great start to the year. The good

:09:23.:09:27.

news is we are naturally hedged. In the Asia-Pacific, the largest source

:09:28.:09:36.

markets for us were intra-Asia travellers. They are the number one

:09:37.:09:41.

market for everything Asia-Pacific. The Indians are growing at a great

:09:42.:09:53.

rate, outbound Indian travellers. UK Labour rally travel anywhere and

:09:54.:09:58.

find hotels. -- you can literally. If you wanted to go to the Maldives

:09:59.:10:04.

before, we did not have a single hotel. Now we have three. It gives

:10:05.:10:09.

our loyal customers, and also customers who want to learn about

:10:10.:10:13.

us, more opportunity to stay with us anywhere at any time in any brand.

:10:14.:10:22.

Up and down the scale of luxury. A quick look at the markets. The

:10:23.:10:31.

Nikkei is up. The weaker yen propelling exporters. Australian

:10:32.:10:38.

markets are lower, as you can see. I am Sharanjit Leyl. Thank you for

:10:39.:10:45.

watching. This is BBC News. We will bring you up-to-date with the

:10:46.:10:48.

stories this hour.

:10:49.:10:50.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS